Fourth Grade
History & Social Science
Design Brief
Understanding Life in Jamestown
Background: You have been studying Jamestown and its place in history as the first permanent English
settlement in America. Learn why and where the colony was built, what was used to build the fort, how the
buildings were constructed, and what kind of tools were used. Take notes on the important things you learn. Be
able to compare the technology of the time to the technology of present-day Virginia. Use a KWL format to
help guide your research.
Design Challenge: Design and build a model of the first Jamestown settlement. Your model should represent the original design
of the fort with walls, a main gate facing the correct direction, and bulwarks. There should be room inside for appropriate
buildings as well as the tools and other belongings the settlers used in their day-to-day life. The base of the model should be no
larger than three square feet. Include the use of simple machines (wheel and axle, inclined plane, lever, wedge, pulley, and
screw) in your design. This may be done by building working miniatures of items that may have been found at the original fort.
Criteria:
Your model should
sit on a base no greater than 3 feet by 3 feet
represent the design of the original fort
contain at least one building inside the fort
have simple machines incorporated into the building of the fort or
represented by miniatures that you build.
Materials: You may select from the items below.
•
•
•
•
cardboard
construction paper
card stock
poster board
Targeted Standard of Learning:
Supporting Standards of Learning:
Fourth Grade
•
•
•
•
brads
paper clips
craft sticks
straws
History and Social Science VS.3
History and Social Science VS.1
Science 4.1
Mathematics 4.11
English 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.6
•
•
•
pipe cleaners
3 feet of string
12 inches of tape
•
general art supplies (markers, colored
pencils, crayons, scissors, rulers, paint, and
glue)
Targeted Standard for Technological Literacy:
9
Supporting Standards for Technological Literacy: 8, 10, 11
Understanding Life in Jamestown 1
Tips for Teachers
Understanding Life in Jamestown
Targeted Standard of Learning: History VS.3
• The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English settlement in America by
a) explaining the reasons for English colonization;
b) describing how geography influenced the decision to settle at Jamestown;
c) identifying the importance of the charters of the Virginia Company of London in establishing the Jamestown settlement;
d) identifying the importance of the Virginia Assembly(1619) as the first representative legislative body in English America;
e) identifying the importance of the arrival of Africans and women to the Jamestown settlement;
f) describing the hardships faced by settlers at Jamestown and the changes that took place to ensure survival;
g) describing the interactions between the English settlers and the Powhatan people, including the contributions of the Powhatans to the survival of
the settlers.
Targeted Standard for Technological Literacy: Standard 9
• Students will develop an understanding of engineering design.
Prior
Knowledge & Skill
•
•
•
Exposure and ongoing involvement
in targeted
History and
Social Science
Standard of
Learning VS.3
Knowledge of
simple machines
Some understanding of the
design process
Fourth Grade
Materials & Preparation
•
•
Check Design Brief for
recommended materials.
Teachers may substitute
materials.
Special Hint: Groups should
create a plan as a team and
then divide the construction
work among them. For
example, two members of the
group might work on the fort
while the others work on the
miniatures to go inside the
fort. As each team member
finishes up a job, he or she
helps other group members.
Safety
Issues
•
Supervise
cutting of
craft sticks
and pipe
cleaners.
Class
Management
•
•
Small groups of
four or fewer
Each child
keeps own
Guided
Portfolio.
Materials
Provided
•
•
•
Design Brief
Guided
Portfolio
Rubric
Assessments
Time
Management
•
•
•
Session 1: Introducing
Design Brief and
Portfolio (60 min.)
Sessions 2 and 3:
Building (45 min. each)
Session 4: Sharing and
evaluating (60 min.)
Understanding Life in Jamestown 2
Guided Portfolio—1
Name
Understanding Life in Jamestown
Group Members:
1. What is the problem?
Targeted Standard of Learning:
Supporting Standards of Learning:
Fourth Grade
State the problem in your own words.
History and Social Science VS.3
History and Social Science VS.1
Science 4.1
Mathematics 4.11
English 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.6
Targeted Standard for Technological Literacy:
9
Supporting Standards for Technological Literacy: 8, 10, 11
Understanding Life in Jamestown 3
Guided Portfolio—2
Name
2. Brainstorm solutions.
Draw or describe some possible solutions.
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 4
Guided Portfolio—3
Name
3. Create the solution you think is best.
Keep notes below about the problems you have and how you solve them.
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 5
Guided Portfolio—4
Name
4. Test your solution.
•
Is the base of your model no greater than 3 feet by 3 feet?
YES
NO
•
Does your model represent the design of the original fort?
YES
NO
•
Does your model contain at least one building inside?
YES
NO
Does your model have examples of simple machines incorporated
into the building of the fort or represented by miniatures that you built?
YES
NO
•
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 6
Guided Portfolio—5
Name
5. Evaluate your solution.
Was it the best solution? Would one of your other ideas have been better? Why or why not?
What would you have done differently?
Could you add to it to make it better? What would you add to it?
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 7
Guided Portfolio—6
Name
Attach a photograph of your final project here. If you do
not have a photograph, draw a picture of your final project.
Fourth Grade
How would you make your project better? Draw a picture
showing how it would look after you have made changes to it.
Understanding Life in Jamestown 8
Name
KWL: Understanding Life in Jamestown
What we Know.
What we Want to know.
What we Learned.
Note: The teacher should make sure that all
required information is listed in question form on
the "W" (what we want to learn) section of the
KWL. Use your Virginia SOL Teacher Resource
Guide to check what knowledge, skills, and
processes are considered essential for supporting
the History and Social Science Standards of
Learning VS1 and VS3. When necessary refer to
the Resource Guide for previous grade levels.
Targeted Standard of Learning:
Supporting Standards of Learning:
Fourth Grade
History and Social Science VS.3
History and Social Science VS.1
Science 4.1,
Mathematics 4.11
English 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.6
Targeted Standard for Technological Literacy:
9
Supporting Standards for Technological Literacy: 8, 10, 11
Understanding Life in Jamestown 9
Rubric for Understanding Life in Jamestown
Name
Date
Design Brief Rubric
no
evidence
limited
understanding
0
1
some
understanding with
room for
improvement
2
good
understanding with
room for
improvement
3
substantial
understanding
4
The student restated the problem in his/her own words.
The student brainstormed more than one idea.
The student created and labeled a sketch to use as a “blueprint.”
The student included notes about problems that occurred and
their solutions.
The student tested the model to make sure
•
•
•
it sat on a base no greater than three feet square
it was modeled after the design of the original fort
it contained at least one building inside.
The student tested the model to make sure it had a/an
• wheel and axle
• inclined plane
• lever
• wedge
• pulley
• screw.
The student evaluated how he/she could make it better next
time.
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 10
Rubric for Understanding Life in Jamestown
Name
Date
Oral Communication Rubric
no
evidence
limited
understanding
0
1
some understanding
with room for
improvement
2
good understanding
with room for
improvement
3
substantial
understanding
4
4.1 The student will use effective communication skills in
a variety of settings.
a) Present accurate directions to individuals and small
groups.
b) Contribute to group discussions.
c) Seek ideas and opinions of others.
d) Use evidence to support opinions.
e) Use grammatically correct language and specific
vocabulary to communicate ideas.
4.2 The student will make and listen to oral
presentations and reports.
a) Use subject-related information and vocabulary.
b) Listen to and record information.
c) Organize information for clarity.
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 11
Standards of Learning
English (2002)
Oral Language
4.1
The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety of settings.
4.2
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Present accurate directions to individuals and small groups.
Contribute to group discussions.
Seek the ideas and opinions of others.
Use evidence to support opinions.
Use grammatically correct language and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas.
a)
b)
c)
Use subject-related information and vocabulary.
Listen to and record information.
Organize information for clarity.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
Use text organizers, such as type, headings, and graphics, to predict and categorize information.
Formulate questions that might be answered in the selection.
Explain the author’s purpose.
Make literal inferences using information from texts.
Draw conclusions using information from texts.
Summarize content of selection, identifying important ideas and providing details for each important idea.
Describe relationship between content and previously learned concepts or skills.
Distinguish between cause and effect and between fact and opinion.
Identify new information gained from reading.
a)
b)
c)
Construct questions about a topic.
Collect information using the resources of the media center, including online, print, and media resources.
Evaluate and synthesize information.
The student will make and listen to oral presentations and reports.
Reading
4.5
The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction.
4.6
The student will demonstrate comprehension of information resources to research a topic.
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 12
Science (2003)
Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic
4.1
The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
distinctions are made among observations, conclusions, inferences, and predictions;
hypotheses are formulated based on cause and effect relationships;
variables that must be held constant in an experimental situation are defined;
appropriate instruments are selected to measure linear distance, volume, mass, and temperature;
appropriate metric measures are used to collect, record, and report data;
data are displayed using bar and basic line graphs;
numerical data that are contradictory or unusual in experimental results are recognized; and
predictions are made based on data from picture graphs, bar graphs, and basic line graphs;
Mathematics (2001)
Measurement
4.11
The student will
a)
b)
c)
estimate and measure length, using actual measuring devices, and describe the results in both metric and U.S. Customary units, including part of an inch (1/2,
1/4, and 1/8), inches, feet, yards, millimeters, centimeters, and meters;
identify equivalent measurements between units within the U.S. Customary system (inches and feet; feet and yards; inches and yards) and between units
within the metric system (millimeters and centimeters; centimeters and meters; and millimeters and meters); and
estimate the conversion of inches and centimeters, yards and meters, and milesand kilometers, using approximate comparisons (1 inch is about 2.5
centimeters, 1 meter is a little longer than 1 yard, 1 mile is slightly farther than 1.5 kilometers, or 1 kilometer is slightly farther than half a mile). *
* The intent of this standard is for students to make ballpark comparisons and not to memorize conversion factors between U.S. Customary and metric units.
History and Social Science (2001)
Virginia Studies
Skills
VS.1
The student will develop skills for historical and geographical analysis including the ability to
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
identify and interpret artifacts and primary and secondary source documents to understand events in history;
determine cause and effect relationships;
compare and contrast historical events;
draw conclusions and make generalizations;
make connections between past and present;
sequence events in Virginia history;
interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives;
Fourth Grade
Understanding Life in Jamestown 13
History and Social Science (2001) continued
Virginia Studies
Skills
h)
i)
evaluate and discuss issues orally and in writing;
analyze and interpret maps to explain relationships among landforms, water features, climatic characteristics, and historical events.
Colonization and Conflict: 1607 through the American Revolution
VS.3
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English settlement in America by
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
explaining the reasons for English colonization;
describing how geography influenced the decision to settle at Jamestown;
identifying the importance of the charters of the Virginia Company of London in establishing the Jamestown settlement;
identifying the importance of the Virginia Assembly(1619) as the first representative legislative body in English America;
identifying the importance of the arrival of Africans and women to the Jamestown settlement;
describing the hardships faced by settlers at Jamestown and the changes that took place to ensure survival;
describing the interactions between the English settlers and the Powhatan people, including the contributions of the Powhatans to the survival of the
settlers.
Standards for Technological Literacy
Standard 8:
Standard 9:
Standard 10:
Standard 11:
Fourth Grade
Students will develop an understanding of the attributes of design.
Students will develop an understanding of engineering design.
Students will develop an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and development, invention and innovation, and
experimentation in problem solving.
Students will develop the abilities to apply the design process.
Understanding Life in Jamestown 14